Sharjeel Khan did not play the two dot balls on purpose: Mohammad Yousuf on PSL spot fixing case

Sharjeel Khan did not play the two dot balls on purpose: Mohammad Yousuf on PSL spot fixing case

Mohammad Yousuf said that, based on his experience in cricket, he believes that Sharjeel Khan did not play two dot balls in the Pakistan Super League on purpose as opposed to what he is being accused of by the Pakistan Cricket Board.

Former Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf spoke defence of Sharjeel Khan, who has been accused of spot-fixing in the Pakistan Super League by the Pakistan Cricket Board. Sharjeel has been accused of deliberately playing two dot-balls while batting for his team Peshawar Zalmi in their PSL Opener.

Yousuf appeared before the tribunal hearing Sharjeel’s case and said, “I have played cricket myself and on that experience I can say that no one can play dot balls on purpose like this,” Yousuf said according to ESPNCricinfo, “Sharjeel played both the balls on merit and he played forceful shots on both and one [stroke] could have resulted in a single. Had he wanted to play a dot ball he would have either left it or played with a dead bat.”

Yousuf, who has played 90 Tests and 288 ODI’s and is also regarded one of the all-time greats of Pakistan cricket, made it clear that he appeared purely in the capacity of an expert on cricketing matters. He hence distanced himself from other aspects of the case.

Sharjeel Khan, Khalid Latif and Shahzaib Hasan are facing charges for a number of breaches of the anti-corruption code of the PCB while playing for their respective teams in the Pakistan Super League. On the other hand, Mohammad Irfan and Mohammad Nawaz, who were also accused, have already received their punishments. Nasir Jamshed is the sixth player and his hearing is yet to begin.